Nutrient Loading

Although nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycle naturally throughout the environment, an increase in levels of these particular pollutants, due to human activity, are occurring at concentrations which can put species at risk. Much of the increase is a result of various agricultural, industrial, and urban activities which generally fall into 2 categories: point and non-point source.

Point source pollutants, such as a municipal or industrial waste discharges, stem from a particular location. Since these discharges can be clearly identified, they are easier to regulate, monitor, and treat. Non-point source pollutants are transported over a broad area, through watersheds, making them difficult to identify, measure, and regulate. Sources include runoff from agricultural lands, construction sites, urban areas, and atmospheric deposition.

Pollutants in the air, water, and soil can influence organisms in many different ways, from altering the rate of plant growth to changing reproduction patterns to, in certain extreme situations, leading to extinction. Excess pollutants can also leave a species weakened, susceptible to other drivers of biodiversity loss such as habitat change or competition from invasive species. These elements make nutrient loading a complicated driver of biodiversity, especially within aquatic ecosystems where plants and marine organisms are disproportionately affected.

Nitrogen plays a key role in ecosystem health as it is a greenhouse gas, contributes to both acid precipitation and photochemical smog, and is a primary cause of eutrophication in coastal waters. The main source of excess nitrogen is through synthetic fertilizers used in agriculture, although improperly managed livestock operations and sewage leaks also play a role. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), there has been a two-fold increase in nitrogen to the oceans and more than ten-fold increases in some rivers draining industrialized regions.

Excess phosphates, like nitrogen, also contribute to eutrophication by entering waterways through agricultural fertilizer runoff, untreated municipal sewage, and from industrial waste such as in small-scale mining. Since phosphorus is not highly soluble, it tends to settle on ocean floors and lake bottoms where it can stimulate overgrowth of plankton and weedy plants like algae. The organisms consume large amounts of dissolved oxygen, which has the potential to suffocate fish and other marine organisms, while also blocking available sunlight to bottom dwellers.

One-third of all atmospheric sulfur stems from human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and processing of metals. Emissions from these activities, in addition to nitrogen, produce tiny particles which fall as acid precipitation which damages forests and crops by slowing plant growth and reproduction and changing the makeup of soil. It can also contribute to changing the pH of lakes and streams, making them too acidic for fish to survive.

Continued exposure to these and other pollutants has the ability to significantly decrease the diversity of plants and animals in a variety of ecosystems over time. Since the sources of pollution vary as much as the effects, regulation is often complex. The majority of current laws attempt to regulate the concentration of pollutants allowed to enter the environment. However, conflicts often arise when there are multiple sources which contribute to the rise of a certain pollutant or when negative outcomes are difficult to measure and/or inconsistent across species.

Aside from the regulation of pollutants, there are a variety of other options that could be utilized to help mitigate the amount of nutrient loading, especially in oceans and waterways. These include the elimination of agricultural subsidies which many claim help promote the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides, a worldwide increase in the use of sustainable farming methods and technologies, and the maintenance and/or restoration of wetlands that helps to buffer nutrient loading. While these options may raise controversy, it is likely that any successful effort to decrease nutrient loading will include the combined use of many options in order to meet the varied needs of diverse ecosystems.

DATA & MAPS

The World Water Assessment Programme?s World Water Development Report 2 identifies and maps areas where sewage, livestock, deposition, fixation, and fertilizers are the main source of nitrogen loading.

Signed by 150 nations at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, this treaty commits countries to sustainable development, intended to reduce the effects of drivers of biodiversity loss. The official website provides information on the convention, what it means, and how implementation is working.

Signed by 152 countries, including the U.S., this treaty banned the use of eight persistent organic pollutant (POP) pesticides. Although the treaty only addresses human health, its passing includes beneficial impacts for other species as well as for the environment.

VIEWPOINTS

In 2009, watermen in two states, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and five other parties intend to go to federal court to force the EPA to enforce the law requiring pollution reduction in the waters of Chesapeake Bay, the nation?s largest estuary.

FOR THE CLASSROOM

This site allows the user to enter a zip code to find out what pollutants are being released in a particular community, which toxic chemicals are most harmful, and/or where the highest concentrations of different pollutants are throughout the U.S.

The University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences developed a lab exercise on the effects of acid rain. Instructions, goals, and sample questions are provided for middle and high school levels.